ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. cell — in biology
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. squash — to crush
  6. fall — to drop
  7. field — a subject
  8. chair — a leader
  9. clip — to cut
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. field — for sport
  14. tube — a container
  15. cell — a phone
  16. field — farmland
  17. clip — for paper
  18. tube — the underground
  19. clip — a video
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. squash — the sport
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. nail — for a hammer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com